When I was a kid watching the Tigers there was not much to cheer in the way of Hull City players playing in the World Cup finals. City's squads were usually made up of low level British players with no chance of anyone playing for Scotland or Ireland let alone England.
The Tigers have had some England and Scottish internationals but usually after they have finished their international careers. Most notably Hull City legend Raich Carter who had played for England in the post-war years but when he was leading the Tigers as our player-manager his international career was a thing of the past.
Our most high profile internationals of recent history are Theodore Whitmore and Ian Goodison who had sprung to fame after representing Jamaica's "Reggae Boyz" at France 1998, a year before joining Hull City. Unfortunately they weren't Tigers at the time of the Reggae Boyz finest hour.
However, we would on occasion have current Welsh internationals or Northern Ireland internationals but nobody that actually played during a World Cup finals. The only player that springs to mind as a Hull City player to actually be a current serving player to play for the Tigers during a World Cup is Manuel Rui Marques.
Rui Marques was on loan with the Tigers from Leeds United before he represented Angola in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany, but with the South Africa 2010 World Cup Finals the Tigers actually have current serving players that will be present in their national teams.
From the current squad the Tigers have Jozy Altidore representing the United States of America, Richard Garcia of Australia and Seyi Olofinjana from Nigeria, and there is still the possibility that Algeria's Kamel Ghilas could make the World Cup finals if they can beat Egypt in a one-off play-off game.
The club's Republic of Ireland trifecta of Kevin Kilbane, Stephen Hunt and Paul McShane will have to overcome the loss to international giants France when they play them in Paris tonight to qualify for South Africa.
Hull City's current squad of players are a far cry from the Championship play-off winning squad of two years ago who had only tthree non-British or Irish players: Jay Jay Okocha, Henrik Pedersen and Richard Garcia. Currently the club have players from 16 different nations from every continent.
How things change in football. It is a testiment to the international nature of the English Premiership that clubs need to scour the globe for players to stay in the world's favourite league.
So too for the Tigers who will have a few representatives in the world's favourite football competition the World Cup, for the first time in the club's history.